Thanks Cougar. Apologies if I went off on one at you before

If you did I missed it, so you got away with it we’re good.

“unfortunately not all Muslims are like Gonzy” – no, they aren’t. But is he (she?) representative or unusal?

Gonzy is a he and in my personal experience Muslims are remarkably nice people. But that’s quite possibly due to the fact that I show them respect when I interact with them. I sure if I had enfht’s attitude I probably wouldn’t find them quite that pleasant.

Well that’s not true.

Well, it is. Someone was killed only a couple of weeks ago for supporting someone else’s view of moderate Islam. I don’t remember exact details, it’s been a long week and I’m tired and want to watch Big Brother, but I can trawl back to find out if you really don’t believe me.

And no, it’s almost certainly not representative of Islam as a whole; on a large scale there are “excellent relations” but there’s a degree of scaremongering. I used the word “visible” for a reason; it’s what people see, and what some Western media latches on to in order to feed that.

Oh, wait, it was on the back of the election of London’s mayor.

(Are we derailing again, do I need to ban myself?)

Well, it is. Someone was killed only a couple of weeks ago for supporting someone else’s view of moderate Islam. I don’t remember exact details, it’s been a long week and I’m tired and want to watch Big Brother, but I can trawl back to find out if you really don’t believe me.

No I believe you. But that’s not what you said. You said “Islam is visibly quite scary to the West”. I don’t think it is, despite that tragic incident in Scotland which you refer to.

But is he (she?) representative or unusal?

Not knowing Gonzy I’d say representative. From what he (she?) has said.

What I inferred is that it’s not unusual for Muslims (in prison) to blag the Ramadan food & have a big Eid feast but not stick anywhere near the ‘guidelines’ of Islam.
Like you said,

they’re all people. Not all Muslims / Christians / Men / Vegetarians / Lesbians / Cucumbers are like (something you do or don’t have a problem with).

Although I don’t know where cucumbers come into it.

A serious question for Gonzy because I’m interested – how are dawn and dusk defined nowadays? I’ve always liked the traditional definition, being able to tell the difference between black and white threads, but is there a modern more precise measure? Or is it done from sunrise and sunset times?

Although I don’t know where cucumbers come into it

You obviously don’t remember the bloody Cucumber vs Courgette wars of the Middle Ages.

[/quote](Are we derailing again, do I need to ban myself?)

No just go and stand on the naughty step for 20 minutes and think about what you’ve done 😉

Apologies if it generates negative feelings for phobics and trolls but Ramadan Mubarak to everyone. 🙂

You said “Islam is visibly quite scary to the West”. I don’t think it is

Of course it is. Whether it’s justifiably scary is another matter. It could be benign and still scary, it’s all about perception.

You obviously don’t remember the bloody Cucumber vs Courgette wars of the Middle Ages.

And more recently the increasing incidence of drive-by fruitings.

“The West” is an awfully big thing, and also includes many Muslims – I think most people in the West are refined enough to find Islamists scary without applying that to all Muslims. At least I optimistically hope so.

And more recently the increasing incidence of drive-by fruitings

Btw perhaps I should qualify this comment I previously made :

I sure if I had enfht’s attitude I probably wouldn’t find them quite that pleasant.

by pointing out that even in the face of hostility Muslims can still be remarkably nice people. As this excellent example shows :

York mosque counters EDL protest with tea, biscuits and football

Around half a dozen people arrived for the protest, promoted online by supporters of the EDL. A St George’s flag was nailed to the wooden fence in front of the mosque.

However, after members of the group accepted an invitation into the mosque, tensions were rapidly defused over tea and plates of custard creams, followed by an impromptu game of football.

Of course it could be just “the fear of violence” which caused the Muslims at the mosque to extend cordiality to the EDL members. Although I suspect not.

It’s a mix of the two Bencooper. Sunset can be quite easily defined as when it’s visibly obvious the sun will set. Sunrise is a bit trickier. You may recall that I’ve said that after 2.30am or thereabouts I can no longer eat even though sunrise is not officially until around 4.30am. That is because the time is calculated off a method similar to how the nautical twilight is calculated so therefore the morning prayer can be performed some time before the sun actually rises. There is a caveat here that says you cannot perform this prayer in the 20 minutes before or after the actual sunrise. Therefore it is permitted to perform it before and because the time is the intention to fast is made before this prayer eating has to stop earlier that the official sunrise.

No fruitings yet, It’s still daylight!

Of course it is. Whether it’s justifiably scary is another matter. It could be benign and still scary, it’s all about perception.

I’m sorry “the West” are individuals? Well ok I guess many people find Islam quite scary. Although personally I don’t find it in the least bit scary.

In fact I would rather have devote Muslims as neighbours than some alcoholic halfwits who have never seen the inside of a mosque.

Interesting, so does everyone do their own calculations, or is there a standard set of tables calibrated for the right latitude?

I think this, along with the facing Mecca thing, explains why Arabs were so good at astronomy and mathematics in the Middle Ages.

It’s gone a bit civil here again….”Puts the ray gun back”

You have a ray gun? Typical violent Muslim 😉

If you’d care to look back on my output on previous religion threads you’ll quickly realise the ludicrousness of your belief.

As for “requested,” absolutely categorically not.

1) Your moderating behaviour on many threads certainly isn’t/wasn’t as aggressive/attentive on those as you have decided to be on this one which would either mean a change of behaviour or special treatment.
Other hypocritical posters are definitely requesting special treatment on this thread while being happy to watch other threads resort to slanging matches without any ‘peace to all men’ type comments (sometimes being the name callers themselves)

2) We are discussing religion so forms of proof do not compromise my ‘Belief’ :0) however ludicrous.

David Icke seems to think there is trouble at the top of the established religions, I also watched his latest vid and he explains how he had to dig deep and keep fighting the fight to get his message across to the masses

I would imagine this is the attitude needed for fasting within the harder parts of the day. Dig deep and keep on keeping on

The times for prayers and sunrise and sunset are calibrated based on individual location. Not not so much as a very specific location…but for say the largest urban conurbation in the area. So Birmingham will have times specific to its last action and the surrounding towns will either follow those times or make slight calculated adjustments

Interesting, cheers.

Well ok I guess many people find Islam quite scary. Although personally I don’t find it in the least bit scary.

Islam itself isn’t/shouldn’t be scary, It’s the peabrained Fooktards who go in the name of Islam that I find scary odd.
There’s probably the odd other religionists who are prepared to kill any non believers of their religion as well I imagine.

Some lengthy rules HERE for those genuinely interested.

You have a ray gun? Typical violent Muslim

It doesn’t work though….the cheap alibaba lipo batteries keep going pop 😆

I don’t often post in this type of thread but have been driven to it by a mixture of anger and IPA. What started off as a genuinely interesting insight into the practices of a significant proportion of the worlds population has been repeatedly attacked in an attempt to derail it. Perhaps all the genuinely interested people can stay here for future updates and all the others can start their own thread titled “people who have differing beliefs and practices than my own confuse and scare me”.

Theocb- I’m genuinely impressed that you went to the trouble of finding that link. It’s very informative and articulates some of the finer points that I can’t elaborate on or don’t know enough about….well done and thanks!

What I inferred is that it’s not unusual for Muslims (in prison) to blag the Ramadan food & have a big Eid feast but not stick anywhere near the ‘guidelines’ of Islam.

Shit the bed Prisoners are dishonest

I am stunned to read this. I mean if you cannot trust prisoners to tell the truth then really who can you trust?

thunderwingdoomslayer – Member
Perhaps all the genuinely interested people can stay here for future updates and all the others can start their own thread titled “people who have differing beliefs and practices than my own confuse and scare me”.

You do know you are expressing an opinion that is so obvious that it is wrong?

It’s not even a case of trusting or believing is it? It’s more of a case of just knowing cos I work there, as you well know.

What makes something obvious wrong?

When it’s posted by Chewwy.

No problem, consider it a gift for your journey my brother. I hope the link below will help you along today. May I suggest you ease back from over using modern tech today and try to focus on the deeper meanings of Ramadan

Ramadanadingdong

If you read up on David Icke and compare that to the life of Muhammed you will see there are similarities, imagine speaking out to the people when no one wants to listen, imagine being the one who has to be the first to convince the next man, carrying the responsibility of the original message.
The Holy Prophet himself had to convince his brothers and sisters of the truth, consider his journey today.

If you read up on David Icke and compare that to the life of Muhammed you will see there are similarities

Or L. Ron Hubbard, who basically made up a religion as a joke and now it’s got all out of hand.

Around half a dozen people arrived for the protest, promoted online by supporters of the EDL. A St George’s flag was nailed to the wooden fence in front of the mosque.

However, after members of the group accepted an invitation into the mosque, tensions were rapidly defused over tea and plates of custard creams, followed by an impromptu game of football.

I like this story, it takes real strength and courage to question yourself.. Well done the EDL supporters I say.

Specially when you consider their commitment to that famous protestant anglo-saxon motto

I guess “no surrender unless someone comes along with a packet of custard creams” is a bit of a mouthful, and you would struggle to fit on your banners.

Not contributing, just following as I find it interesting learning about the cultural aspects rather than relating it purely to religion.

Happy Ramadan Gonzy, good luck to anyone joining him on Monday. As a proponent of the 5:2 diet, it’ll be tough but I’d be cautious for those that are trying it to do completely without water for that period if you aren’t used to it.